I forgot something. Mama said Mrs. Cramer refused to take Ruth, said she had the "headache." Some excuse! And Mary wouldn't keep Billy any longer because Uncle Jim wouldn't let her adopt him. Don't blame either one of them much. Mrs. Ed Cramer is keeping him for the present.
Monday, I was "sick." Loafed mostly. Mrs. Younger told the kids to get off the parking. Horace, Albert & Neil were playing ball -- but on our own ground. I went out to see "how come" and she called me over. I shouldn't have gone -- she should have come here if she wanted to talk to me, but I'm so simple. She objected because the ball might come on her parking accidentally and the kids would walk on her grass to get it. I was about ready to cry and walked away, leaving her talking to herself.
I washed Tuesday and read "Unity" -- a good number. Tuesday I got a letter from Mrs. Cox -- think she must belong to a "good words" club I wrote letters to Paul Raypholtz, Jonesie and Dorothy -- sent them and orders to National & Bellas Hess on Wednesday.
Neil gets most everything again, with Bricky a close second. Mother is entirely "out" this time. Had a terrible headache Wednesday -- had to quit ironing & lie down. But finished it in the P.M. Did my second stint of ironing yesterday. Neil had to stay after school last night for chasing some girls home from school the night before. Peculiar way of making love, eh?
Yesterday, I got a letter from Mama and one from Gladys. Mama said the key to the desk lost out on the way home. John and Dad were sure dumb not to think to put one in Dad's pocket. In my reading, I have read Colliers up to Mar. 21. I finished reading the American. We've had another rain, I believe it was Tuesday night, and has been rather cool since. Did my mending yesterday afternoon -- except stockings -- I will postpone that. Did my Friday's cleaning this morning -- got Lesson 19 ready to sent this afternoon.
[In sorting out why Ruth is staying with various relatives, I discovered that her mother, Lula, died in 1923, leaving Jim with four (or five?) children to care for -- Thomas 12, Ruth 10, John 8, and Cecil 4. My suspicion is that Billy is the fifth, and that Lula's death was related to childbirth. Sadly, there was another son, Edwin, between John and Cecil that died when he was 2.
Lula Jane Cramer was just 17 when she married James Garfield Hayson in 1911. Uncle Jim was 12 years older. Their son Thomas was born not quite three months later, which likely explains them marrying. (I just found a copy of their marriage license... from Missouri. She lied and said she was 18 so she could marry without parental consent.) Uncle Jim seems like a positive character in Granny's earlier journals and he was around quite a bit, but it's a little creepier now since Lula was the same age as Zella and they likely knew one another. There's no indication that Jim & Lula's marriage was unhappy though.
In the 1925 Kansas census, Jim has Thomas (13) and John (10) living with him. I can't find Cecil in 1925, but by 1930 Cecil is living with Aunt Jennie and her husband (Augustus Edward Cones and Jennie Hayson Cones) in Colorado. --kp ]
No comments:
Post a Comment